music, books, and other things we love

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Amy and I have been talking about this for a while, and we think that it's best if we shut down this blog. Don't worry, we're still the best of friends, I've just wanted to do a solo blog, and Amy says that she hasn't really been pumped about posting and stuff. So we've agreed to shut down this blog.
Amy's considering starting a music blog, but she's not totally sure about it yet.
I just started up another book review blog, and if y'all still love me, you can contuine to follow me on my book journey at: readingstandsforever.blogspot.com
Thanks for everything. Y'all are the best!

"it's something unpredictalbe, but in the end it's right. i hope you had the time of your life." -"good riddance (time of your life)" by green day
~Lydia~

Monday, December 13, 2010

hello all. It's Lydia (duh), and I'm going to be really lazy today. I'm going to list the top 25 most listened to songs on my iPod (according to iTunes) and make comments, because i'm tired and lazy right now. i hope you enjoy!

25. "I Want You" by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts - this song is awesome, even though it talks about drugs...but i mean, that's sorta who joan is!
24. "Hell is for Children" by Pat Benatar - ok, i know the title sounds horrible, but it's about child abuse, and its sad. if your heart breaks easily, don't listen to this song.
23. "Cherry Bomb" by The Runaways - ok, this song is slut central. BUT it was written in 1975 by a group if 15 year old girls...
22. "Love is a Battlefield" by Pat Benatar - best of her music videos. and the song is so true. love is a frikin battlefield.
21. "The Only Exception" by Paramore - i have an only exception.
20. "21 Guns" by Green Day - it's about giving up, and knowing when you've been beat. screw optimism.
19. "Welcome to Paradise" by Green Day - is it talking about christmas break? i think so.
18. "School Days" by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts - i hate school. and this song makes me feel better, knowing that i'm not the only one.
17. "I Love Rock N Roll" by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts - no explanation needed. who isnt in love with rock n roll?
16. "21st Century Breakdown" by Green Day - my generation is zero.
15. "Queens of Noise" by The Runaways - great song about how girls can rock just as hard as guys.
14. "All I Wanted" by Paramore - all i wanted was you...
13. "Turn it Off" by Paramore - it talks about how technology can be talking over our life. it's still an amazing song.
12. "We Are Broken" by Paramore - i cannot figure out what this song is about. i get that it's about a song about a relationship that went bad, but i can't figure out the meat of the song...i sort of like it that was.
11. "Know Your Enemy" by Green Day - i have so many enemies, this just fits in at #11
10. "Emergency" by Paramore - about divorce. very fitting. thanks mom and dad.
9. "Paperback Writer" by The Beatles - how did this manage to be the only beatles song on this list? i don't comprehend...
8. "Ignorance" by Paramore - hehe. some people can be so ignorant.
7. "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" by Green Day -this kind of explains my life right now. "my shadows the only one that walks beside me, my shallow hearts the only thing thats beating, sometimes i wish someone out there will find me. till then, i walk alone" has an amazing video too.
6. "Feeling Sorry" by Paramore - "we've got no time for feeling sorry" (we don't)
5. "All We Know" by Paramore - i love this song. over the summer, everything i knew fell.
4. "Basket Case" by Green Day - this is possibly the best music video ever. just go watch it.
3. "Playing God" by Paramore - please, just trust me, awesome video and song. and...yeah...
2. "Bad Reputation" by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts - this song is SO badass!!! its totally me.
AND THE NUMBER ONE MOST LISTENED TO SONG ON MY iPOD IS:
1. "Misery Business" by Paramore - there will be no comments about this song. i love it.

now someone explain to me how ONLY green day, paramore, pat, joan, the runaways and ONE beatles song made it to this list....WHERE IS THE BON JOVI? AC/DC? KISS? EUROPE? DEF LEPPARD? ZEPPLIN? NIRVANA? VAN HALEN?
some please explain this to me.
i do not comprehend.
"well, i'll still say that you shine brighter than anyone!!" "brighter" by paramore. this song was #26. it made me sad that it just barely missed the cut. i love this song,
~lydia~

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Hello Everyone! It's Lydia, and I found this survey on Khy's blog, and it made me excited, so I decided I should do it as well. I do realizee that it's not the end of 2010 yet, but if it really needs to be changed, i will come back and edit it wit new books (if they make the list). It was originally posted on The Perpetual Page Turner. I was going to put covers with these, but I listed so many books, it's just not possible, plus a lot of books have covers with their reviews. Here goes:

Books of 2010:

Best Book of 2010:
This is REALLY, REALLY hard, but I'm going to have to say it's a three way tie between: Hate List by Jennifer Brown (my review for this is horrible, and I want to do a new one SOON), Thirteen Reasons Why and The Vinyl Princess by Yvonne Prinz. Also Khy (hello again Khy) keeps mentioning Anna and the French Kiss (by Stephanie Perkins) on her blog, so I got the free sample on iBooks on my iPod, and OMG. This book was AWESOME. So, it'd be a four-way tie, except I haven't finished Anna and The French Kiss.

Worst Book of 2010:The Black Sheep by Sandy Rideout and Yvonne Collins. I'm sorry, but I didn't even finish this book (SO RARE) it was just no good at all. I couldn't read big chunks of it at a time, it wasn't my favorite.

Most Dissapointing Book of 2010:
I think I'm going to have to go with That Summer by Sarah Dessen. I know that in the YA world that last sentace was pratcially a crime, but I just wasn't a fan of it......I LOVE SARAH DESSEN TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH AND BACK, but That Summer just wasn't for me. Another would be Teen, Inc. by Stefan Petrucha. I just plain didn't like this book...

Most Surprising (in a good way) Book of 2010:The Murder of Bindy Mackenzie by Jaclyn Moriarty, for sure. This book surprised the hell out of me! After the frist hundred or so pages, I was about to give up, then the ending twist came, and I was like: WOAH! What just happened?! I was reading it at lumch (that's your anti-social Lydia for you), and I sort of look up at the hustle and bustle of a High School cafeteria, and was like what if this is all a conspiracy?? It was awesome!

Best Series You Discovered in 2010:
Ok, this is a tie between The Ruby Oliver Novels by E. Lockhart, and the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld. I haven't finished either of these series, but they are both totally AMAZING, and would reccomend to everyone who reads this blog!

Most Hilarious Read of 2010:
This is hard. Twenty Boy Summer, and The Boyfriend List would defently be my top two.

Most Thrilling, Unputdownable Book of 2010:
I have three: Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen. I got this book from PaperBackSwap, sat down in this big, plushy chair I have, and read it, from start to finish. It wasn't thrilling persay, but it was really good, and got through the action quick. By far my favorite Dessen read. Number two was Fang by James Patterson. This is the fifth (?) book in the Maximum Ride Series, (which if you have not read, you are insane), and it is AWESOME. The last one is Dirty Little Secrets by C.J. Omolou. This book hit me like one of our famous southern heat waves. It was a topic I didn't really understand, (and now that they're covering it one Degrassi, I get it now) and that's what made it so awesome. They were so detailed to the point where it was almost making fun of hoarders. She was standing on that thin white line between perfect and a complete mess.

Most Beautifully Written Book in 2010:
This is really easy: The Forest Of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan. I'm reading thi right now, and so far: AMAZING. It's written so well, I'm now a huge Carrie Ryan fan!

Book That Had the Greatest Impact On You in 2010:
I don't know..Hate List hit me hard, and so did Wintergirls (by Laurie Halse Anderson, love her!). I think I read Speak last year, but it's still going on this Survey. Speak was the most moving book I've read (probably other than the Bible) and I reread it often.

Book You Can't Believe You Waited UNTIL 2010 to Read:Uglies by Scott Westerfeld.

Book Blogging in 2010 (optional):

New Favorite Blog You Discovered in 2010:
I Love Maddz from Slightly Bookish, and Larissa from Larissa's Bookish Life! There are SO many more that I would love to list, but I don't have time. Sorry other wonderful bloggers! i still love you!

Favorite Review You Wrote in 2010:
I loved my review of The Vinyl Princess! Not to sound really braggy, but either that one or my review of Someone Like You. Either one of those would be my top two.

Best Discussion You Had On Your Blog:
Ok, hands down this is the post that Amy and I wrote together when we were on the trip to my aunt's beach house. Here is the link, if you were wondering.

Most Thought Provoking Review or Discussion You've read on Somebody Else's blog:
This survey. Mostly because it's fun.Best Book-Related Even You've Participated in:
When Amy and I went to see Liz Kessler. It was so hilarious, because Amy loves mermaid books, and she gets tounge tied in front of authors and such, so I had to talk for her. I totally wish someone had been recording that! We had to drive an hour to get there, then three hours back to Amy's house. It was so fun because Amy talked about it for days after.

Best Moment of Book Blogging in 2010:
See above, or the whole Speak Loudly thing. I didn't get much into it in the blog, but it was still a big deal to me, because Speak and Twenty Boy Summer are two of my favorite books.

Best Bookish Discovery of 2010:
Um....Pat Benatar's memoir? I'm not really sure what this question is asking...

Woah! This is for sure the LONGEST POST EVER. I feel very special. goodbye for now.
oh, and i've decided that i'm going to end each post with a quote, either movie or music.
"i wanna rock n roll all night! and party every day!" -"rock n roll all night" by KISS
~lydia~

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

It's Lydia (again), and I am writing my first ever music video review, and I am proud to say that the artist is one of my top three favorite bands. Paramore is tied with The Runaways and Bon Jovi for my number one spot. Ok, moving on. The song is "Playing God" and here is the music video:

Ok, I realize that you have to go to YouTube to watch it, but again this is my first time. Please forgive. Here is my review:

I am in love with this song, but have mixed feeling about the video. I love the part where Hayley is in the basement, screaming to the guys who are all roped up. I love the whole "rope" theme that was throughout the enitre music video. Also, where they showed the empty frames that are on the back cover of Brand New Eyes.
Some things, that I need to point out that were'nt my favorite, like when they were at the table and....well...all of that. Also, Hayley's dresses throughout the video. I'm not a fan of dresses, and I just plain didn't like those.
Did anyone else notice that when they were in the basement, with the guys roped up, and the single lightbulb hanging down over them, the set looked really similar to the set for the "Ignorance" video? It might just be me though.

Overall, this music video was fun, quirky, and totally Paramore. LOVED IT!

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Yes, you read right! Today is the release day for Bon Jovi Greatest Hits: The Ultimate Collection. I love Bon Jovi and am so extremely happy that they have a greatest hits out. They are one of my all-time favorite bands, and if you've never heard of Bon Jovi or never listened to any of their songs, then you are either a. living under a rock b. are stuck in an aslyum with no internet (which would make no sense, how are you reading this??) or c. delusinal. The track list for this awesome, AWESOME album consist of:

"Livin On A Prayer"
"You Give Love A Bad Name"
"It's My Life"
"Have A Nice Day"
"Wanted Dead or Alive"
"Bad Medicine"
"We Weren't Born to Follow"
"I'll Be There For You"
"Born to Be My Baby"
"Blaze of Glory"
"Who Say's You Can't Go Home?" (deut featuring Jennifer Nettles)
"Lay Your Hands On Me"
"Always"
"Runaway"
"I These Arms"
"Someday I'll Be Saturday Night"
"Lost Highway"
"Keep the Faith"
"When We Were Beautiful"
"Bed of Roses"
"This Ain't a Love Song"
"These Days"
"(You Want To) Make A Memory"
"Blood on Blood"
FEATURING FOUR ALL NEW TRACKS
"What Do You Got"
"No Apologies"
"This is Love This is Life"
"The More Things Change"

Wow, that was a lot. Did you read that?? FOUR all new tracks!?! I must get on iTunes NOW and get these new songs. If you don't know Bon Jovi to start with "Livin On A Prayer", "I'd Die For You" (not on there) or "Wanted Dead or Alive". But I promise you, you may think you've never heard Bon Jovi, but you have. Unless you're in an asylum, like I said earlier. Alright, go get some Bon Jovi!!!
rock on!!
~lydia~

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Hello. It is Lydia, and Amy and I have decided that, even though we review books. We are music junkies too. So, it seems fit that we review some music as well... And as you can see, we've changed out name! music, books, and other things we love! I'd love comments on the new name/direction we're going. But for now, I'm going to start us off with a Top 5 Songs of the Week. Later, this might become a meme, but we're just starting, so we'll see how it goes. Also, this is not gonna be sugary pop, it's gonna be real music. Our favorite songs this week.

5. "The Final Countdown" by Europe
Genre: Metal
Best line: "it's the final countdown!!!"
Ok. I first hear this on Metal Mania on VH1 Classic, and fell in love. The guitar is epic, the words fit, the time is right (5:20), and the beat works so well. I love this song. And Europe.

4. "Playing God" by Paramore
Genre: Alternative
Best Line: "how could that be logical? just keep on cramming ideas down my throat!" OR "it's just my humble opinion, but it's one that i believe in"
I love Paramore, and this is one of my favorite songs by them, and kind of defines some stuff for me. Plus it had two best lines! Which rocks. Amy gave me their latest CD, Brand New Eyes this summer, and I love it. Guitars are played, drums are bashed, lyrics are yelled. That is Paramore.

3. "Love is Pain" by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
Genre: Rock
Best Line: "you listen true, i will make you black and blue!"
I love Joan Jett. She's awesome, and this is one of my favorite songs by her. One of the best female rockers of the 80's, and she's still with a band. Amy said that (i think on The Runaways movie comentary) that she says (about The Runaways breaking up) "We were coming of age. What were we running away from?" I love that, but I love The Runaways.

2. "I'd Die For You" by Bon Jovi
Genre: Rock
Best Line: "in a world that don't know romeo and juliet!!"
Bon Jovi rocks. This is my favorite of their songs. And currently on my favorite show, this defines the relatonship between my two favorite charachters. (Degrassi, Eli and Clare. I love Eli....but I'm talking about music, not TV...ok Lydia, Eli can wait...) Plus look at that line! That is one of my favorite quotes ever!! It's epic. Go buy this song. Now.

1. "Misery Business" by Paramore
Genre: Alternative
Best Line: "i'm in the business of misery, let's take it from the top."
This is my #2 favorite song of all time. My number 1 is coming later in the future. I think I love this song so much because I can play it on guitar hero, and I like Paramore's early stuff All We Know Is Falling and Riot! are my two favorite of their (3) albums. The guitar is awesome, the drums are awesome, and Hayley's vocals are amazing! Thanks for this hit Paramore!

Sunday, October 31, 2010

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!! It's Lydia and it's time for....In My Mailbox!! Im My Mailbox is a weekly meme started by The Story Siren and inspired by Pop Culture Junkie. Ok, What Lydia got this week....

Library:And Then I Found Out The Truth by Jennifer Sturman (Sequel to And Then Everything Unravled. You can find my review here)
I really liked the first one, and when I found out that it had a seqeul, I got it out of the library as fast as I could. Hopefully it will live up the the hype in the first one.

Little Blog on the Prairie by Cathleen Davitt Bell
This book looks really, really cute. I loved the Little House books, and a takeoff would be cool, so hopefully this is good.

The Local News by Miriam Gershow
I'm not totally sure if this book is YA or what, but it looks to be good. Plus there's a charachter named Lydia. If you read my last post, you will find out I enjoy books with my name in it. \\

The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May and June by Robin Benway
Robin Benway wrote Audrey, Wait!, a book which I read this summer, and will hopefully have a review for ASAP. This looks so AWESOME! I love mysterious books, and this looks mysterious. Awesome, right?

The Ghosts of Ashbury High by Jaclyn Moriarty
I love this author. She wrote The Year of Secret Assignments which I loved and reviewed yesterday! Here is the post. So, in this book, it looks like this is a different story, but she brought back Lydia, Emily and Cassie from The Year of Secret Assignments. I love it when authors bring in charachters from their last books (espically when it's not a sequel)! I'm excited for this book!

The Snowball Effect by Holly Nicole Hoxter
I'm not sure if this is a Tenner, Deb or whatever, but halfway through it and it's AWESOME! I can't wait to finish and review it!

Bought:The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
Ok, Zombies are totally my thing right now, and Amy told me this is about zombies, so naturally when I went to Barnes and Noble (alone, which I should add, it not very safe) I had to purchase it. It looks good. I had to go to the eye doctor yesterday (my mom wants me to get contacts), and I tried to read it, but there were two problems with that 1. before I went in there, House was on TV and it's one of my favorite shows, so I had to watch it. and 2. When I came out, the dialation was so bad I couldn't read..

So there's my IMM for this week! What's everyone (who celebrates it) doing for Halloween!? I LOVE Haloween, but this year I might be stuck handing out candy at my aunt's house. She has a new baby, and doesn't want the doorbell ringing all night..Oh well, I'm going to see if some kids let me take pics of their cool costumes! If they let me, I will give them extra candy!!! Also if they let me, I will post some of the cute ones here!
rock on!
~lydia~

Friday, October 29, 2010

Hello wonderful readers! Lydia here, and don't worry, I'm trying to get Amy to post, but she's got a TON of homework. So, because I'm not doing well on my coming-up-with-other-ideas-other-than-reviewing plan, i guess that I have another review...

The Year of Secret Assignments by Jaclyn Moriarty (back of book)

The Ashbury-Brookfield pen pal program is designed to bring together the two rival schools in a spirit of harmony and "the Joy of the Envelope." But when Cassie, Lydia, and Emily send their first letters to Matthew, Charlie, and Sebastian, things don't go quite as planned. What starts out as a simple letter exchange soon leads to secret missions, false alarms, lock picking, mistaken identities, and an all-out war between the schools--not to mention some really excellent kissing.

Ok, the main reason that I picked up this book was because there is a main charachter names Lydia. You don't see many Lydia's, so it made me excited. You get excited when your name is in a book. Or at least I do, because there are only a few books I have ever found that have my name in it.

I read The Year of Secret Assignments at camp, and absolutly loved it. It was really cute, and the charachter Lydia is extremely similar to me! Like, at the beginning, she was testing to see how smoke decetors worked, and that is TOTALLY something I would do!

Lydia, Cassie, Emily, Matthew, Charlie and Sebastian (Seb) are some of the funniest and wittiest charachters I've ever read about. I loved how at the beginning of the pen pal program, Lydia and Seb were testing to see if their teachers actually read their letters. They decided to pretend like they were selling pot (or some other drug), and it made me laugh out loud (legitly) during "rest hour" at camp.
Overall The Year of Secret Assignments was one of the funniest books I've ever read. If you've never read this book, you must go to the store, or library, or wherever and get our hands on a copy of this book NOW!

so there is my review for Friday/Saturday. I will be back on Sunday (HALLOWEEN!!!!! I LOVE HALLOWEEN SOOO MUCH!!) for my IMM.
rock on! ~lydia~

Monday, October 25, 2010

It's Lydia, and as I promised you, i have an epic review!!I'm kind of out of my reading slump, so we'll see how much more I get read. Right now I'm reading She Theif by Daniel Finn. It's pretty good, but nowhere near The Vinyl Princess.

The Vinyl Princess by Yvonne Prinz (description from inside of book)

How does a sixteen-year-old vinyl junkie get by?

Summer is here and Allie is excatly where she wants to be: working full time at the ultra-cool Bob & Bob Records in Berkeley. Here Allie can spend her say bantering with the street people, talking the talk with the staff. shepherding the uncool bridge-and-tunnel shoppers-all while blissfully surrounded by music, music, music. It's the perfect setup for her to deelop her secret identiy as The Vinyl Princess. Her very first ine is about ready to print and her new blog, http://www.thevinylprincess.com/, is up and running. From the saftey of her favorite place on earth, Allie's poised to launch a vinl revolution-or at least reach some fellow music geeks out there.

They are out there....aren't they?

Ok, as I said, this is now my #2 favorite book ever. (Harry Potter is at an eternal reign as #1). Allie is the perfect charachter. I want to be Allie so much. She is awesome! I love the whole mysterious "M" boy at the beginning of the book, and the end result with him. I am a vinyl junkie as well, or at least a beginner collector, so this book was perfect for me.
Another thing I absolutly LOVE about this book, is that there are just about no cliches! Cliches are boring, and annoying, and take a lot out of books. Allie and Kit are the perfect best friends, total oppisites, and I loved Kit's road trip idea! I think Amy and I should do that sometime! (Just kidding Mom.....maybe ;D) I also think that the whole mysterious Zach thing was really cute, and how they had their musical banter. I so wish I had a Zach in my life :D
Yvonne Prinz is the cofounder of Amoeba Records (aka the world's largest independant record store AND a place I need to visit), and that makes her probably one of the third or forth most important musical-related women in my life. Pat Benatar, Joan Jett and Hayley Williams are the top three. I went on their website last night, and found out that Bob and Bob's Records is based on the first Amoeba Records store which is legit on Telegraph Ave in Berkely, CA, which is where The Vinyl Princess is set!!!
Overall, The Vinyl Princess is one of the best books I have ever read. It shows the true personality of all music and vinyl freaks out there. We are real, and The Vinyl Princess shows the world how awesome we are, whether other people like it or not.

So, you all know now how much this book means to me. It is so awesome and every single person who read this post needs to go and get this book from the library, or buy it, or whatever, but you need to get it and read it. Ok, I have been reduced to rambling, I need to read. goodbye wonderful blog readers!
~lydia~

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Hello dear readers (if there are any left). It's Lydia and I know it's been, like amonth since I posted, but do not worry, I still love you all. I am actually posting this from the library, becuase...well I've looked at the shelves twice already, and don't want to leave.
BUT I found this AMAZING book that I have started and will post a review for ASAP. Let me give you a preview of this book.

Ok, If this does not look amazing, you must be insane. It's about this girl, Allie (I swear I want to be her) who's brain might as well be a encyclopedia of music. She loves vinyl (hence the name), and wants to start a revolution against downloading.
In my opinion, I agree with her, vinyl is SO MUCH BETTER, but I need my iPod for the 45 minute drive between my parents' houses every few days, and thus downloading....
So, I hope to review The Vinyl Princess soon, but we'll see how much work my Bio teacher gives me tomorrow....

about us

two teenagers. best friends. book geeks. music freaks.
there is so much you can say to describe us. we love YA books, writing our hearts out, and the loud, screeching guitars of classic rock.
this is life.